


Uncle Grimmy

by EmEmEm



Series: Gryles, plus one [2]
Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Fluff, Gryles, M/M, kidfic!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 12:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1226026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmEmEm/pseuds/EmEmEm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He didn't get into radio to be a childminder; he would have been a teacher or opened a crèche, and he thought dating a popstar would be all TVs out hotel windows, and doing lines of cocaine off hooker’s stomachs rather than looking after a plethora of children that didn't belong to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uncle Grimmy

“Harold,” Nick said, struggling to keep the exasperation out of his voice, “Are you telling me, that on a Friday night, a Friday night that neither of us has to work the following Saturday, you have volunteered us to babysit your hairdresser-cum-makeup artist’s offspring? Think of the vodka, think of all the vodka we could have removed from the world!” Harry looked unimpressed by Nick’s speech, bordering on displeased.  
“Lou isn’t just my stylist Nicholas!” Of course he would get upset about that, Harry Styles: Villain of the Year, defender of the employee, “She’s my friend, our friend! And you love Lux, stop being a drama queen, it’s not that bigger deal. It’ll be fine, she’ll be asleep by 8, and then I can make it up to you…” he said, with an eyebrow dance, which was quite possibly meant to be seductive, it just looked like caterpillars had taken up residency on Harry’s forehead, but Nick wouldn’t mention that.  
“None of that, Styles! If there’s to be a child in my house, there will be no snoggy-snoggy-touchy-touchy! You know that’s not what I meant about Lou, but it’s been ages since we’ve been out. Actually forever. Do you want Larry to eclipse Gryles on the twitter mentions? Is that what you want! Are you trying to bin me off, is this how you do-” Nick’s hysterical ramblings were cut off by Harry’s lips against his, “This isn’t going to distract me, you evil child…” he mumbled against the lips that were beginning to trail down his throat.

“Not many people would say that, these are million pound lips I’ll have you know,” Harry mumbled against Nick’s collar bone, letting his teeth scrape lightly against the protrusion grinning softly at the gasp the tore through Nick’s body, “If you won’t let me make it up to you, then maybe I could convince you…” he whispered in his ear, his lips brushing against the older man’s ear lobe.  
“Ugh, get off me!” Nick cried, pushing the boy away, feeling as disappointed as Harry looked. “If we’re having this child over we don’t have time for this. As great as this would be, we have to toddler-proof the house… You’re actually the worst, when will they drop her off?” Nick was already scooping the remotes off the coffee table to put them out of reach, when he turned around to look at Harry, he saw that the boy was shamelessly staring at his arse. He wacked him with a remote, looking stern, although they both giggled when the stereo started blasting some obscure house track, “For God’s sake Harold! Mind out of the gutter, this is your fault, think, we could have had a lovely night out, or a lovely night in…” he added a wink, just to ensure the teenager got it.  
They spent the next hour tidying up, and moving everything that looked fun up out of a child’s reach, why they didn’t just permanently childproof their house was beyond Harry, it’s not like there weren’t children in it nearly every other week. Since their emergency babysitting of Rex, Fearne had been leaving him with them more and more, even just leaving him with Nick if Harry was off being a popstar, it was all very grown-up, and Lux was over all the time, whether Lou had popped over to check in on her favourite member of One Direction (she’d deny it, but let’s face it, the whole world knew it was true) or Lou and Tom just needed some ‘Mummy Daddy time’. Nick complained about it all the time, saying he didn’t get into radio to be a child-minder; he would have been a teacher or opened a crèche, and he thought dating a popstar would be all TVs out hotel windows, and doing lines of cocaine off hooker’s stomachs rather than looking after a plethora of children that didn’t belong to him. He didn’t mind though, really, he loved it. He loved the look Harry got when he held a child, he loved holding Harry’s hand as they checked on whichever kid they had been charged with before they went to bed themselves, he loved the nonsense conversations he had with them, asking questions about their mad stories and making them feel proper important. Not that he’d ever admit it, and no one knew, he was ace at hiding those kinds of emotions, ask anyone- except don’t, because they’re all lying liars and just want to ruin Nick’s hipster image. 

The doorbell rang and Harry went to let them in, Nick surveyed the lounge room to make sure it was relatively Lux-proof, no matter how careful they were, she always found something. She was incredibly resourceful. He vaguely registered the door opening and Harry laughing, but was shocked when a small, but incredibly forceful object crashed into his legs, knocking his knees out from under him so he fell onto the rug, he heard three adults call out, grumbling as the little girl pushed Nick onto his stomach and sat on his back. Nick could imagine the naughty little grin that was sprouting across the little girls face, he couldn’t help but laugh as she blew a raspberry into the back of his neck and pulled his hair. “Lux Atkin!” broke his laughter, accompanied by the sound of heels clicking across the floorboards and the weight being lifted off his back. Attempting to secure his serious adult face (he might sometimes practice it in the mirror, in case he ever gets to do the news or something, he could definitely give John Snow a run for his money), and stood up, brushing himself down and straightening his t-shirt. 

Lou had hold of Lux, Harry was still standing in the door, holding it open, looking bemused, and Tom was holding back chuckles, standing just inside the door. “Lux, that was very rude! You ran straight passed Harry, and have you checked to see that Mr Grimshaw is okay?” Nick screwed up his face, Mr Grimshaw, ew, he wasn’t that old, “It’s not very nice to jump on people like that!” She set Lux on the ground and looked at her expectantly.  
The little girl toddled over to Nick, looking way to happy for a girl that had just been told off by her mother, she hugged his leg while mumbling “Sorry Mr Grimshaw, are you okay?” offering a little smile. Little shit, she was cute and she knew it. Nick scooped her up in one swoop and kissed her chubby cheek.

“That’s alright Princess, it’ll take more than that to take me down! And what’s all this ‘Mr Grimshaw’ bollo… Rubbish,” You’d think with all the time he spent broadcasting, live, to the nation he’d be good at censoring himself… You’d guess wrong. He spun her in a circle and sat her back on the floor, holding on to her until she stopped wobbling, he could totally be responsible if he had to, “Go give Uncle Harry a big kiss, he’ll get jealous,” he whispered conspiratorially in her ear, giving her a little push towards him.  
Everyone had congregated in the lounge room, Harry had, apparently, snapped out of it and shut the door. To his advantage, he’d had time for the pigtailed cannonball to launch herself at him, he gathered her up and swung her around, with his back to the group of adults he gave her a tight squeeze, Nick was sure he saw her eyes bulge out of her head slightly. Lux gave him a big kiss on the cheek and cried “Uncle Harry, you I know I love you best!” with a clumsy wink to her parents and Nick. He was sure he heard Lou mutter something about Louis being off the babysitting list to Tom.  
“We’d better go,” Tom said apologetically to Lou, taking her hand. 

“Mmmmm, we should,” she said, eyeing Nick and Harry, “Thank you so much for this, I know it’s probably not your ideal way to spend a Friday evening,”  
“Shut up,” Nick said with a smile and a wave of his hand, “It’ll be brilliant, we love having her, it’s great fun! Great sensible fun, a healthy dinner of steamed sprouts, in bed by 7:30, asleep by 8,” he added with a wink to Lux, who smiled a cheeky, toothy grin, one remarkably similar to Harry’s. Nick’s heart pounded in his chest, he ignored it though, looking at the glare Harry was shooting him instead, no doubt trying to remind him of the argument they had had an hour earlier.  
“We’re not stupid enough to believe normal , Mum and Dad rules apply at Uncle Harry and Grimmy’s, just don’t let her stay up too late, or she’ll be a nightmare tomorrow, and we’ll be bringing her straight back here!” Tom said, squinting at Harry and Nick in turn, they knew it would all be fine, but it was the charade they went through every time.

“Tell Mummy and Daddy to go Princess, we can’t have fun while they’re here!” said Harry with a smirk, carrying the girl over to stand with Nick, he put her on the ground to say goodbye to her parents. As soon as his hands were free he rested a hand on Nick’s lower back, Nick’s hand quickly found its way into Harry’s back pocket. Lou darted over to the pair while Tom gave her the obligatory ‘Be Good for the Babysitter” lecture, she pecked Nick on the cheek, then stood in front of Harry, having a silent conversation with him, Nick peered at the two of them, but could not make anything of it, with a stilted smile Lou kissed Harry’s forehead and headed to the door.  
“Be good you three,” she said as he faux-stern gaze swept over the huddle, with a wink at the boys and a kiss blown to Lux, she headed out the door, dragging Tom behind her, “We’ll be over in the morning to get her,” she called over her shoulder. The group watched the retreating figures until Lux walked over, slammed the door and rubbed her hands together, turning to Nick and Harry with an evil grin plastered over her face. The men gulped.  
Lux had demanded to play beauty salons, which was no surprise, that was her favourite game when she came to visit. Aimee had left a big tub of half used makeup, nail polish and god knows what hair products in it for the little girl to play with last time she was over. When Harry had left to make tea, he was sure Nick didn’t have blue bits in her hair, and Lux’s wasn’t mostly pink… He was going to get in so much trouble tomorrow. When Nick looked up and reached out to take his cup from Harry he also noticed the fucsia nail polish that coated his finger nails, and half his fingers. 

“Look Uncle Harry, me and Uncle Grimmy match!” she cried holding out her fingers to show him her equally pink nails. Nick’s eyes widened, he’s never been ‘Uncle Grimmy’ before, it had always been ‘Uncle Harry and Grimmy’ not that it had bothered him, Lux had basically grown up around Harry, and Nick was only around sometimes, he’s never expected it. Although, he quite liked it. That was a lie, he really liked it.  
Harry looked at Nick briefly before turning back to Lux, “Wow! You do, you’re both very pretty! I think you’re the prettiest though Princess!” Nick made a noise in the back of his throat, raising his eyebrows, “And does that pink come out, or am I going to have to run very, very fast when Mummy and Daddy come to pick you up?” He said still smiling, but glaring at Nick. Lux shrugged and pushed Harry down into a chair next to Nick, before advancing on him with a menacing expression. “Oh God, don’t ruin my hair too, or your Mother really will kill us all, there’ll be no hope!”

“Shhhhhh Harold, it’s chalk or something, I don’t know, says it’ll wash out on the packet,” Nick laughed, while joining the little girl pulling at his hair. The three of them made quite a picture, pink and blue hair, and florescent nails, Nick instagramed a photo of the three of them taken in a mirror, captioning it with blue and pink love hearts. It was quickly liked by all their friends, and a few thousand strangers.  
When Harry looked at the clock on his way back from the kitchen, it seemed as though time had run away from them, they should have thought about dinner at least an hour ago, Harry looked at Nick, then poignantly at the clock, trying to telepathically convey this to him. Nick stared back blankly, while he was getting good at this responsibility thing, he was busy putting blush on a squirming child who kept demanding ‘More!’ “What are we going to do for dinner, it’s probably too late to cook?” he said, purposefully not looking at Lux, knowing what she’d suggest.

“McDonalds!” she cried looking at Harry, pouting when he ignored her, she tugged at Nick’s free hand, “Uncle Grimmy, pleeeeease?” Nick looked at Harry, Harry looked back, oh so he could manage a silent conversation now. Looking down at his boyfriend and his favourite little girl’s faces he didn’t stand a chance. 

“Fine, but you have to wash the makeup off,” she pouted but still bounded off to the bathroom to scrub it off. “If she gets all hyper from the sugar and stuff you have to deal with her!” he said, looking at Nick, pretending to be grumpy.  
“Oh, shut it Harold,” he said, pulling him forward so he was straddling his lap, he kissed him softly, making the most of the brief moment without the child. “I love you, even with your multi-coloured hair,” he smirked with a tug at the boy’s hair before kissing him again, the moment was ruined when a high-pitched voice squealed for help.  
“Yeah, yeah. I love you too old man,” he said, before clambering off him to go and investigate the squeals coming from the bathroom. Nick stood too and headed toward their bedroom to change his t-shirt, blush went a long way, and he couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t get papped. No one wants photos of themselves floating around the internet with big pink smears all over, his hair and nails were bad enough. 

“Uncle Harry,” Lux said, her voice somewhat muffled by the face washer Harry was swiping over her face,  
“Yeah, Princess?” he replied, brow creased with concentration, this makeup stuff was harder than Lou made it look,  
“You love Uncle Grimmy right?” Nick was coming up to the bathroom door when he heard the little girl ask Harry, while he knew Harry did love him, he still stopped to listen.  
“Yes, I do. Very much. Why is that?” he said, sitting back on his heels, letting the face washer hang,  
“It’s just Mummy said when people love each other that’s how they have a baby,” Nick chucked silently outside the door, “And I think you and Uncle Grimmy should have a baby. I could be her best friend and it would be so fun! But you’d have to promise to still borrow me sometimes, or I’d miss you too much, Grimmy too!” Nick bit the inside of his cheek and waited to see what Harry would say, it hadn’t really been bought up since that night. Nick hadn’t bought it up, but then again, neither had Harry.  
“Oh, Princess. It’s not quite as easy as that. Maybe one day, but not yet, we’re just fine borrowing you at the moment! One day though, I’d like to have a baby, we’ll wait and see what Grimmy thinks though. I promise, when we decide you’ll be the first person to know! You need to let me talk to Uncle Grimmy though okay? This is a grown up thing, do you understand?” Lux pursed her lips, but nodded seriously. “Okay, are you okay to finish this up while I get changed?” he said handing the little girl the face washer and striding out of the room. He nearly crashed into Nick on his way to the bedroom.

Nick looked blank. He shook his head to clear it and crowded Harry against the wall, he kissed him hard. When he pulled away they were both heaving, sucking in air they desperately needed, “We need to talk about this,” he said breathlessly, Harry nodded looking up at him through his lashes, shoulders heaving. Nick pressed another kiss to his lips, softer this time, cupping his cheek, his thumb sweeping across his flushed cheekbone, “Later,” he promised, hugging him close for a moment, then pushed him towards their bedroom door, “Hurry up, or we’re going to have a little girl committing mutiny and trying to drive herself to McDonalds! And then we really would have to run when Tom and Lou come back,” Harry turned on his heel and disappeared into the bedroom, Nick went to hurry the child along. The three of them bundled out into the car, Nick tucked Lux into the backseat, and into the booster seat they had acquired at some point. 

While Nick drove, Harry leant back into the seat, closing his eyes and appreciating how perfect everything was in that moment. Lux was babbling away to Nick, while he nodded along seriously, Radio 1 was playing softly in the background and the sun was beginning to set, bathing everything in a warm orange glow. The smile that slowly seeped across Harry’s face glowed brighter than the setting sun, and warmed Nick even more. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, he pulled up Instagram and found the photo Nick had posted. He screenshot it and posted it to his own account, re-captioning it as “My two loves,” accompanied by a rainbow emoji.

When Lux stopped for breath, Nick noticed he recognised the song playing on the radio, in fact, he knew the voice quite well, hushing Lux, he turned the stereo up as loudly as it went. Lux shrieked with laughter as Harry snapped out of his daze and slapped Nick’s shoulder. His anger was short lasted when he noticed that both Nick and Lux were laughing loudly and singing along loudly, and out of tune. Soon, the three of them were belting out the song as loudly as they could, with all the windows down and people staring into the car… Harry was certain What Makes You Beautiful had never sounded better.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading,  
> If you want to talk to me, tell me you loved it or hated it, or have any ideas for me you can find me on tumblr, www.houseonatrampoline.tumblr.com


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